Memeorandum

April 25, 2012

Trayvon Martin Shooting - If Only Obama Had Intervened Sooner

Jiminy - Reuters has a long profile of George Zimmerman and we learn in the lead that he got his gun permit and gun because a neighbor wouldn't control his large, menacing pit bull:

(Reuters) - A pit bull named Big Boi began menacing George and Shellie Zimmerman in the fall of 2009.

The first time the dog ran free and cornered Shellie in their gated community in Sanford, Florida, George called the owner to complain. The second time, Big Boi frightened his mother-in-law's dog. Zimmerman called Seminole County Animal Services and bought pepper spray. The third time he saw the dog on the loose, he called again. An officer came to the house, county records show.

"Don't use pepper spray," he told the Zimmermans, according to a friend. "It'll take two or three seconds to take effect, but a quarter second for the dog to jump you," he said.

"Get a gun."

That November, the Zimmermans completed firearms training at a local lodge and received concealed-weapons gun permits. In early December, another source close to them told Reuters, the couple bought a pair of guns. George picked a Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm handgun, a popular, lightweight weapon.

Oh, man - if only the First Dog Diner had been around in September 2009. We can hear him now - "If I had a dog it would look like Big Boi and Big Boi would look like dinner."

The real juice in the story is a bit later, where Reuters describes the crime wave that had vexed the Retreat at Twin Lakes. Two snippets:

Though civil rights demonstrators have argued Zimmerman should not have prejudged Martin, one black neighbor of the Zimmermans said recent history should be taken into account.

"Let's talk about the elephant in the room. I'm black, OK?" the woman said, declining to be identified because she anticipated backlash due to her race. She leaned in to look a reporter directly in the eyes. "There were black boys robbing houses in this neighborhood," she said. "That's why George was suspicious of Trayvon Martin."

And one of the burglaries was unusually upsetting:

At least eight burglaries were reported within Twin Lakes in the 14 months prior to the Trayvon Martin shooting, according to the Sanford Police Department. Yet in a series of interviews, Twin Lakes residents said dozens of reports of attempted break-ins and would-be burglars casing homes had created an atmosphere of growing fear in the neighborhood.

...

But it was the August incursion into the home of Olivia Bertalan that really troubled the neighborhood, particularly Zimmerman. Shellie was home most days, taking online courses towards certification as a registered nurse.

On August 3, Bertalan was at home with her infant son while her husband, Michael, was at work. She watched from a downstairs window, she said, as two black men repeatedly rang her doorbell and then entered through a sliding door at the back of the house. She ran upstairs, locked herself inside the boy's bedroom, and called a police dispatcher, whispering frantically.

"I said, 'What am I supposed to do? I hear them coming up the stairs!'" she told Reuters. Bertalan tried to coo her crying child into silence and armed herself with a pair of rusty scissors.

Police arrived just as the burglars - who had been trying to disconnect the couple's television - fled out a back door. Shellie Zimmerman saw a black male teen running through her backyard and reported it to police.

After police left Bertalan, George Zimmerman arrived at the front door in a shirt and tie, she said. He gave her his contact numbers on an index card and invited her to visit his wife if she ever felt unsafe. He returned later and gave her a stronger lock to bolster the sliding door that had been forced open.

"He was so mellow and calm, very helpful and very, very sweet," she said last week. "We didn't really know George at first, but after the break-in we talked to him on a daily basis. People were freaked out. It wasn't just George calling police ... we were calling police at least once a week."

I guess he didn't come off as an annoying contol freak at that moment.

This is the second recent 'new perspective' story from Reuters. Obviously, this might have been more helpful in easing our national blood pressure had it been run last March, but hey.

I will add that I read about the home invasion back when the City of Sanford had more of their police reports online. The prosecutor asked to have them taken down; they live online, but where? In the Google Cache, of course, and now also here: TwinLakesBurglaryReports; the home invasion is p. 13.

The Tampa Bay Times wrote about a neighborhood in transition battered by falling home prices and crime back on March 25. I do not think the Tampa Bay Times crime stat jibes with the Reuters numbers, but here we go:

For the first two months of this year, at the Retreat at Twin Lakes, the Sanford police logged 51 calls for service. Half were just people requesting information. The others included eight burglaries, two bike thefts and three simple assaults.

The answer may lie in police records, which show that 50 suspicious-person reports were called in to police in the past year at Twin Lakes. There were eight burglaries, nine thefts and one other shooting in the year prior to Trayvon’s death.

In all, police had been called to the 260-unit complex 402 times from Jan. 1, 2011 to Feb. 26, 2012.

Comments

The more I learn about George, the more I realise that Team Skittles, Sharpton and Jackson couldn't have chosen a worse person to accuse of racism.
And so much for that 'George carried a gun because he couldn't be a real cop' meme. That one has died an ugly death.

My daughter called from Orlando alittle while ago to report that last night she was out with some friends, one of whom lives in Sanford. She wanted to tell me that this guy is really ticked off at how his community is being portrayed by the race baiters. She said he is organizing Sanford residents to be on call if the Sharpton/Jackson mob tries to start anything again as a result of any aspect of the GZ case. Her report: "He is pissed royally."

The media walk back has begun. No Pulitzer for the misreporting and Crump stenography but there might be one for the clean up. What a mess. I still think the walk back is CYA ordered by the corporate media legal staff to hedge against libel suits.

If that neighbor is put on the stand and so testifies, or if the police testify that there had been African American teenagers identified as burglars in the neighborhood, the case is toast, as is the DA.

As I noted when this all started, I have an investment condo that is in a similar community that is mostly rented by absentee landlords or other type of owners. It is a great gated townhouse, condo community on the ICW. But it is also struggling with maintenance costs. So, it has eliminated the security person at the front gate to clear non-residents in. Now all you need is either a transonder or gate code for the key punch. Lots of drug activity, police call outs, burgalries and trespassing. But they don't have a neighborhood watch program but rely on the Sheriff to show up and stop the crime.

Talking to my renter, he has gone through CWP training as has several more of his neighbors. More and more people there are armed. Probably a good thing. Sooner or later the realization of personal security hits you square in the jaw and you do what you have to do.

"Jorge" is only one example of getting the message. Trayvon never got the message or chose to ignore it being the NO-LIMIT-NIGGA playing the Knockout Game while suspended for ..... stealing, burgalry and a cold kocking a school bus drive much to the applause and gratitutd of his twitter feed.

"Moments later, Martin lay dead with a bullet in his chest"...right after violently attacking GZ and giving him a broken nose and busted skull. GZ saved his own life that night, and probably the lives of many others in the future.

You have no evidence whatsoever that Zimmerman disregarded the dispatcher's advice. Pure conjecture on Reuter's part and yours. In fact, the State has already conceded they have no evidence that GZ pursued Martin.

But I will concede that you have a narrative and by God you and your ilk are going to stay with come hell or high water.

In a 'bending over backwards' moment of fairness, let me tepidly defend Reuters on this:

The last time Zimmerman had called police, to report Burgess, he followed protocol and waited for police to arrive. They were too late, and Burgess got away.

This time, Zimmerman was not so patient, and he disregarded police advice against pursuing Martin.

One can argue (as I have) that GZim did not disregard the dispatchers advice that night.

However, he did disregard generic standing instructions to neighborhood watchers everywhere when he got out of the car. They use the word "protocol" to cover that.

Obviously, that is not illegal. But Reuters stayed close to the line and arguably got both feet down inside the line. This argument would be stronger if they had written something more general such as "he disregarded police advice against pursuing [any suspect] Martin."

Boy you can learn a lot from Dana Ward. For example, did you know that the 1st amendment extends to private blogs on the internet? Silly me, I thought it was to keep the Federal government from abridging freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

The "black boys robbing the neighborhood" remark by the neighbor actually supports the "profiling" allegation, in an odd way. But I don't think that the jury, or the public, will see it that way. Only the TSA thinks it's* wrong to be suspicious of a person because he looks and acts a lot like the criminals who committed the types of crimes you are trying to prevent.

Bernard Goetz shot four African-American men on a New York subway train on December 22, 1984, when they approached him and allegedly tried to rob him. At his trial Goetz was cleared of all charges except criminal possession of a weapon. Sharpton led several marches protesting what he saw as the weak prosecution of the case.[21]

Sharpton and other civil rights leaders said Goetz's actions were racist and requested a federal civil rights investigation.[22] A federal investigation concluded the shooting was due to an attempted robbery and not race.[23]

He never accepts than anything can be a mistake, except his own actions, which are
more often airbrushed by too many personages

"However, he did disregard generic standing instructions to neighborhood watchers everywhere when he got out of the car."

In a neighborhood that had recently suffered a hot burglary with a resident scared out of her mind and the police only minutes away. Zimmerman would then be just like his very cautious neighbors, listening to him scream for help for over a minute as they cowered in their homes.

God save me from quivering profiles in courage who believe they have done their entire duty by dialing 911.

It is funny to call the ADN Newspaper, and to talk to various people at the paper, none of whom had heard about the story in the ADN, and having to slowly walk them through how to bring up the ADN on their computers and locate the story from yesterday, after which they finally go, "Wow, that's cool. You're not nuts. Okay, let me see who I can pass you on up too."

"How could this have happened? How could Obama be rewarded for his dereliction of duty, for his pillaging of the public treasury, subversion of the work ethic in favor of leisure class sloth, and for enriching the already rich at the expense of the working class? There are many answers including corporate control of media, the intimidation of independent reporters, the brazen manipulation of fears of terrorism, the suppression of information, corruption, and our insularity from the rest of the world. Some responsibility falls on McCain's shoulders for being too timid in his criticism of Obama, for not responding to the "flip flop" charge by pointing out that the biggest flip flopper in this campaign was the candidate who promised hope and change middle of the road populism and gave us 19th century corporate cronyism, who promised to be a uniter and produced the deepest divisions in American society in at least a generation, who promised not to be tempted by promoting American Exceptionalism and set about the demolition of the Middle East in pursuit of a quixotic mission to re-make the area in the image of his Father's dreams of a demised Western influence. But unfortunately, most of the responsibility is our own. As educators we have failed, as citizens we have failed, in our most fundamental responsibility, to speak truth to power."

Guess who? Names changed to protect the innocents and expose the guilty.

How long will it take until this story makes it down to the ill informed--the bubus and Kukus and dudas and the like?

You mean the type of people who still think Sacco and Vanzetti were innocent? That think the Haymarket Bomb was a frame-up? That think the Rosenbergs were innocent? Who think Bush lied about Saddam's WMD? Who think Mumia is a political prisoner?

Listen to the 911 call with the shot on it. Someone screaming for help doesn't constitute a shouting match and witness "John's" hollering that he was going to call the cops didn't have the outcome that he was hoping for.

I wouldn't interfere in a sour drug deal but I wouldn't expect screams for help from a dealer or customer, either.

On March 19 NBC6 ran a story on the phone call George Zimmerman made in connection with the Trayvon Martin case. In that story an error in editorial judgment was made in which a question from the operator was deleted which could have created the impression that Mr. Zimmerman’s statement may have been singling out Trayvon Martin because of his race.

He was surprised because he would have responded. Kinda like he responded to the need for a Neighborhood Watch to be instituted. Not everyone will cede property or territory to thieves and thugs just because the "safe" thing to do is dial 911 and huddle in the dark.

"If that neighbor is put on the stand and so testifies, or if the police testify that there had been African American teenagers identified as burglars in the neighborhood, the case is toast, as is the DA."

Why would other African American teenagers identified as burglars mean that George Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin was justified? If that argument was made in court, I think the prosecution would dispose of it pretty quickly. The legitimacy of Zimmerman's self-defense claim depends on whether the person in front of him -- Trayvon Martin -- was trying to kill him, not on whether other African American teenagers had committed burglaries. I mean, you just cannot argue that. It's not a legitimate argument.

I suppose we could begin and end with Wikipedia, which is generally as far as you have to go with this stupid shit:

"Depraved-heart murder, also known as depraved-indifference murder, is an American legal term for an action that demonstrates a 'callous disregard for human life' and results in death. In most states, depraved heart killings constitute second-degree murder."

And, we have the Central Florida Dream Center reporting "Out of the 11 areas of poverty located in Seminole County Florida, nine can be found in Sanford Florida. These sections of the city are plagued by crime, drugs, gangs, domestic violence, child abuse, rape, AIDS, poor health, illiteracy and many other dire situations."

The only reason there aren't major gangs like MS-13, East Coast Crips, Latin Kings, Black Guerrilla Family, etc, is because Sanford is in the ass end of nowhere.

"Why would other African American teenagers identified as burglars mean that George Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin was justified?"

What justifies the shooting is the fact that he had had his nose broken and was on his back with his head being bashed against the sidewalk, and was in reasonable fear that the violent felony that was already being committed upon him would continue.

What is justified by Martin's status was an increased suspicion that he was up to no good. Zimmerman--an African-American himself--could more reasonably suspect that an unknown African-American prowling the neighborhood was more likely than, say, a teenage white girl to be one of the burglars that had been terrorizing his neighbors.

"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- George Zimmerman is in custody in Florida and will be charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, authorities announced Wednesday. His attorney said he would plead not guilty.

"'Essentially she's saying he had the intent to do something that was so dangerous to Trayvon Martin, he would know he would be killed,' said Janet Johnson, Jacksonville criminal defense attorney.

"'Second-degree murder is also called murder with a depraved heart,' Johnson explained. 'Basically, doing something so depraved that you would know someone's life would be at risk, but you acted anyway.'"

Are we ready to move on from this fool's latest pratfall, or do we want more?

Let's start with "What story are they talking about - on air, on website, or both?"

Then, what about the March 20 website stuff?

What about the re-edits that disappeared the problem on April 9 with no "explanation" - are they still investigating that? Or did it take them another two weeks to realize they had made the corrections silently?

How does this connect to the Today Show - they can't be pretending it is a coincidence, so where did the bad edit originate?

Does the truth matter anymore, two months later, they finally get around to the facts
of the case, but it's a little late, because
the poison is already in the bloodstream,
For years to come, Zimmerman is marked by the scarlet M of the 'Drive By Media.

This situation eerily parallels the Goetz one,a quarter century ago, and Bonfire, there was no malice, just a tragic intersection between two people, but the wolfpack feeds just the same. What is the proper punishment for Burnside, who so cavalierly 'libeled' Zimmerman.

"(2) The unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by any act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual, is murder in the second degree and constitutes a felony of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment for a term of years not exceeding life or as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

--The legitimacy of Zimmerman's self-defense claim depends on whether the person in front of him -- Trayvon Martin -- was trying to kill him, not on whether other African American teenagers had committed burglaries.--

If that is the sole issue, Kathy, and none of what has occurred in the past with black teenagers or Zimmerman has any bearing on this case why have you and buub and others cluttered up this place for a month with nonsensical arguments about innocent little boys just chompin on some Skittles and racism and lynchings and cold blooded murder and wannabe cops who weigh 250 pounds and who didn't have a single injury to show for his troubles?